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Better Than Mom’s Brown Butter Rice Krispie Treats! It’s true, promise, these rice krispie treats are like no other. Made with salted browned butter (KEY), double the marshmallows (homemade, to be exact), a touch of vanilla, and brown rice krispies. They’re sweet, salty, buttery, extra gooey, and just a little bit addicting. And the best part? They’re fun to make no matter what your age. The perfect back to school, bake sale, treat that will win everyone over.
Taking it back to our childhood days today, and my gosh, I am very happy about it.
Like the rest of the world, I grew up snacking on my mom’s homemade rice krispie treats. I didn’t like marshmallows at all (still don’t), but yet I loved my mom’s krispie treats. The thing about my mom’s krispie treats? She made them better, with double the butter and double the marshmallows. To be expected from her. Go big or go home has always been her motto…with desserts and life!
I guess my point is that she was/is the best sweets maker. To this day, everyone raves about her chocolate chip cookies and her Special K-Bars. Nothing better. But her rice krispie treats?
I think I may have beat her original recipe with these. Let me explain a bit.
First, I want to make note that these are not your average rice krispie treats. For one, I made the marshmallows. Honey marshmallows actually, with no processed sugar, no corn syrup and nothing weird at all. I will not say they are healthy, because that could be a bit of a stretch. But hey, they’re a much better option than the bagged kind.
Also, and most importantly, they actually taste good. So darn GOOD, and flavorful!
Second, browned butter. Salted brown butter, and this is KEY. You can skip the homemade marshmallows if you must. I know they’re a bit of an extra step, so I do understand. But you can’t skip the browned butter…or the salted part.
Third, vanilla. Just a touch. Because for real…why wasn’t vanilla in the original rice kripsie treat recipe? Always use vanilla.
Here’s the breakdown.
If you’re making my homemade honey marshmallows, start with these. They do add time onto this recipe, but if you have the time, make these. Please! They’re a true game-changer and I LOVE that they use zero corn syrup. Yes, please.
And they’re actually so much easier to make than you would think. You just need water, gelatin, honey (you can also use maple syrup), flaky sea salt, and vanilla. That’s it.
Then dissolve the gelatin in cold water, bring the honey to a boil, boil for 10 or so minutes, then stream the hot honey into the gelatin. Then just add vanilla plus sea salt and whip with a stand mixer until you have marshmallow “fluff”.
Spread the mixture into a pan, let them set, and done. You’ll now have homemade honey marshmallows that have the prettiest golden hue to them. AND that actually taste like something other than just pure sugar. These are SO GOOD.
As I said, I totally understand if you don’t have the time or energy to do this extra step. BUT, if you happen to have time and are feeling adventurous, I could not recommend the homemade marshmallows more. True game-changer, and really, so much easier to make than you would ever think.
Once you have your marshmallow situation all sorted out, it’s time to make the best rice krispie treats.
Brown a stick of salted butter, melt in your marshmallows and smell the deliciousness coming from the brown butter. It’s warming, toasty, and will definitely get you excited for cozy fall baking…just saying.
Add in a pinch of flaky sea salt, a touch of vanilla, and brown rice krispies. Spread out in a pan and then let the treats sit until set. In the directions, I say 1 hour, but 30 minutes will do too. Cut, sprinkle with additional salt (never a bad idea) and serve them up to everyone and anyone.
There’s not a person in the world who could not love these. Not only will they remind everyone of their childhood, but the fact that they actually have delicious flavor, are soft, chewy, perfectly salted, and slightly healthier too, really seals the deal and makes them better than moms.
So with that, do yourself a favor and indulge in some Tuesday treat making. These are easy to make, but even better to enjoy. And any memories that come along with this recipe are just an added bonus.
If you have a bake sale, end of summer BBQ, or Labor Day weekend picnic, you must bring these and you should probably double the recipe. They will go fast.
Lastly? If you are more of a chocolate peanut butter kind of person, then try out my chocolate covered brown butter krispie treats.
If you make these better than mom’s brown butter rice krispie treats be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!
Better Than Mom's Brown Butter Rice Krispie Treats
Servings: 24
Calories Per Serving: 1032 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Ingredients
- 1 stick (8 tablespoons) salted butter
- 10 cups (two 10 ounce bags) marshmallows, homemade (recipe below) or store-bought
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon flaky sea salt
- 9 cups brown rice krispies
Instructions
- 1. Line a 9x13 inch baking dish with parchment paper.2. Add the butter to a large pot set over medium heat. Allow the butter to brown lightly until it smells toasted, about 2-3 minutes. Stir often. Remove from the heat and stir in the marshmallows, stirring until melted. Stir in the vanilla, salt, and brown rice krispies, tossing well to combine. Spread the mix out into the prepared pan, packing it in tightly. 3. Let the treats cool, at least 1 hour. Cut into bars and serve! Bars will keep for 2-3 days stored in an airtight container.
Notes
Store-Bought Marshmallows: if using store-bought marshmallows, you need 2 (10 ounce) bags.Â
Homemade Marshmallows: if using my homemade marshmallows (below), use the entire batch to make these rice krispie treats.Â
Adapted From: my mom's recipe, which was adapted from the Kellogg's Rice Krispies box.Â
Honey Marshmallows
Servings: 20 marshmallows
Calories Per Serving: 606 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons powdered gelatin
- 1 cup honey or maple syrup
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- flaky sea salt
- confectioners’ sugar, for dusting (optional)
Instructions
- 1. Line an 8-inch square baking pan with parchment paper and dust with confectioners sugar. 2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, stir together the 1/2 cup cold water and the gelatin. Fit the stand mixer with the whisk attachment. 3. In a medium saucepan, combine the honey and 1/2 cup water. Cook over medium heat, stirring often, until the mix reaches 240 degrees F. on a candy thermometer, about 10-12 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat.4. With the mixer on medium speed, carefully and slowly pour the hot syrup into the gelatin mixture. Add the vanilla and salt. Raise the mixer speed to high and beat for 8-10 minutes, or until the mixture is fluffy. 5. Working quickly, transfer the marshmallow mixture in the prepared pan. Smooth the top into an even layer. Let sit at room temp for 1 to 2 hours, until set. 6. Generously dust the top of the marshmallow with confectioners’ sugar and then invert it onto a clean cutting board. Cut the marshmallow into squares, they will be sticky. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 month.
Notes
If Using To make Krispie Treats: You can simply skip the setting process and use the marshmallow "fluff".Â
Confectioners' Sugar: you don't have to use this, but it makes working with the marshmallows much, much easier. Just a little dusting is all you need.Â
I made these last night. The honey took nearly an hour to reach 240 degrees. I guessed at the amount of salt in the marshmallows, as there is no suggestion (a pinch or 1/2 a tsp, or?) in the recipe. Usually I’m fine with a suggestion such as “to taste,” but I really had no clue. I used One Degree Organic Foods Sprouted Brown Rice Crisps (that’s all the store had for brown rice crisps). The end results were good, but the crisps seemed more dense and chewy (almost as if they were stale – in fact I checked the date on the box to make sure they weren’t past due). I was really expecting these to knock my socks off and they just didn’t. They missed the crispiness and lightness.
Hi Kate! I am really sorry this did not turn out well for you. Please let me know if there is anything I can help with! Did you happen to change anything in the recipe? xTieghan
How much sea salt do I add to the marshmallows? I’m making them right now so a timely answer would be greatly appreciated. Also, my honeyis taking FOREVER to reach 240 degrees.
Hey Kate,
You can use a pinch of flaky sea salt. I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan
Hi Teighan! Thanks for sharing this recipe. I made this recipe tonight (with the homemade marshmallows) and everything was going well until the very end. I whipped the marshmallow and skipped the setting process. I added them directly to the pot with the melted butter. Then I counted the seconds for one whole hour until I could eat them all the while being teased by their AMAZING smell! when I cut into them, the cereal was soggy, not crispy ?. They still taste unreal, but obviously the texture of mine is all wrong for a rice krisipe square. Any idea what I could have done wrong for next time?
Hi Steph,
So sorry you had issues with the recipe. What brand of rice cereal did you use? It sounds like you did everything right, so unless you adjusted any of the ingredients the cereal shouldn’t be soggy. Please let me know how else I can help. xTieghan
Such wonderfully layered flavors that go way beyond the crispy treat of childhood past!! As Thomas Keller might say, Rice Krispy Treats elevated! 😀 Loved them! For some reason I was worried about adding the homemade marshmallow fluff to the hot butter. Since in your recipe you added the cooled cubed mallows and didn’t mention how to add the fresh warm marshmallow fluff. So, just to ease my concern I waited until the browned butter cooled some before I added it. Not sure if it mattered, but It turned out great. My house smells like browned butter and maple syrup. And my family loves me a little more now (LOL) for making these. Thanks Tieghan.
Haha yes! So glad these turned out so well for you! Thank you so much for trying these Shannon! xTieghan
I loved the homemade Marshmallows but the rice crispy treats were too soggy, they didn’t have any crisp. IM
Hi Josie! I am sorry to hear that. Is there anything that could have gone wrong? I would love to help! xTieghan
I recently made this for some friends and it was great! Fun little tip: I made the homemade marshmallows and when I was cutting them, I used a pizza cutter to cute the marshmallows! It was much easier than using a knife! Such a great recipe!
Thank you so much Teagen! xTieghan
Tieghan,
I tried to reply to your comment replying to mine about the maple syrup and I He metric conversions, but a reply box didn’t open.
Thank you for your reply. It’s really helpful. I WILL try again with the maple syrup, but in a smaller pan to get a greater depth of liquid – it definitely wasn’t the correct consistency. I’ll wait until we get a dry day – we do get them once in a while, or until we have to turn on the dreaded AC due to the heat.
I made this recipe (Homemade marshmallows too!) but the treats turned out soggy. Any suggestions for what I could do to prevent that next time? Thank you!! Love all of your recipes!
Hi Ashtin, try adding an additional 1 cup of cereal and reducing the butter to 6 tablespoons. I wonder if maybe you just had too much marshmallow mix?Please let me know if you have any other questions. So sorry this cause you trouble!
Thank you!! xTieghan
I was so excited to make this recipe for my son and coworkers and so many things went wrong. Most of the problems are on me, but I still wanted to share.
My one issue with your site is the metric conversion for the rice krispies. If you hit metric conversion, it says that you need 1.7kg for 9 cups of rice krispies. That would be be 3.748 pounds! One kilo is approximately 2 pounds. If you read the traditional rice krispy box (couldn’t find the brown rice ones), one serving (1 ½ cups) is 40 grams. The total amount of cereal would be 240 grams. The question here is how much cereal do you actually use.
So I weighed out slightly more than 240 grams. Based on other comments that said the cereal was soggy, I toasted them. They were still soggy, so I won’t try that again.
I’m certain that I screwed up in making the marshmallow, which was absolutely delicious BTW. First of all my gelatin may have been too old. I used maple syrup but I think I could have used a smaller pot. After about ½ hour my temp was only at 225º but I decided to go ahead and make it anyway. I got it nice and fluffy and left it in the mixer while I melted the butter. I got the butter to a light brown, maybe could have browned a little longer which might have taken more moisture out. I mixed everything together and put it in the pan. After an hour, they were shrunk, the cereal had absorbed a lot of liquid and the texture was soggy.
I also decided to make them on an unusual February day in Coastal Georgia – it was humid and hot (almost into the 80s).
We definitely are going to make these again, but I have one more question. Have you actually made these with maple syrup? Besides the temperature, what should the consistency of the syrup be when it is ready? Thanks for any insight you can give me.
Hi Carol, I am so sorry you had so much trouble with this recipe. I do always make these with maple and do not run into issues, but I love in Colorado where it is very, very dry. The opposite it sounds like from where you live. The syrup should be thicken up to a caramel like state very sticky, but still pourable. Does this make sense?
As for the conversions, I am sorry our metric system does not work well. We are actually working on a re-design that will fix this. Again I am so sorry for the trouble! Please let me know if you have any other questions. Thank you!! xTieghan
I haven’t made these yet because I really want to use the brown rice krispies but haven’t been able to find them yet. (I’ll look at our local health food store or a Whole Foods.) Anyhow, I have a question. I keep thinking they would be really tasty with maybe some bourbon or rum added. Do you think a splash would work in the marshmallows?
Hey Kate! If using the store-bought marshmallows I think you could add 1 tablespoons bourbon or rum, but I don’t think that would work well with the homemade. Too much moisture I am afraid. Please let me know if you have any other questions. I hope you love this recipe! Thank you!! xTieghan
I had fun making these and experimenting with making marshmallows (a first for me) but sadly the Rice Krispie bars came out soggy on the bottom and I couldn’t bring ’em to Xmas dinner. Though they were very tasty, they were missing that true crispy chewy texture the makes Rice Krispie treats to addictive. Any thoughts on contributing factors to soggy-bottomed squares??
HI! What brand rice cereal did you use? The cereal shouldn’t be soggy at all. Was there anything else you did differently? maybe try using less butter next time. I would go with 6 tablespoons Sorry for any trouble! Please let me know if you have any other questions. Thank you! xTieghan
Every recipe I have made from your web site/cookbook have been beyond delicious. I tried the rice krispie treats and had my first failure. I used the brand Rice Krispies, couldn’t find the brown ones, but like some of the other reviews, my rice krispies were soft and tasted stale. I am so disappointed because the recipe looks amazing. The fluff was yummy.
Hi Jane! I am really sorry to hear that! Are there any questions I could help you with? xTieghan
I’m looking forward to trying this recipe soon, rice Krispy bars are my absolute favorite!! Question, does the marshmallow recipe listed equal 10 cups? My guess is I should double it… either way no harm no foul if I end up with extra marshmallows right??
HI Stephanie! No need to double the recipe listed is about 10 cups. Please let me know if you have any other questions. I hope you love this recipe! Thank you! xTieghan
Hello and thank you for your recipe. I have been making it this way for years except I always used store-bought Marshmallows. You have inspired me to make my own Marshmallows at home for this treat. However, I have found that skipping the setting step and using the fluff has caused my Rice Krispies Treats to become instantaneously stale. First, I thought maybe the fluff was too runny in which case the moisture made the treat stale. Sadly, I had to throw away this batch. I tried again several days later. This time I added 1 1/2 cups of sugar to reduce moisture and made sure the fluff was a bit more set up than the first go around. It was definitely a lot better but still a tad stale. I am now perplexed thus will have to try for the third time. This time I will make the Marshmallows the night before and make sure they are fully set and see what happens.
In the meantime, do you have any thoughts of why these treats become instantaneously stale?
Hi Nicke, what brand cereal are you using? I have never had stale bars before so I am really stumped as to what is happening. Is the cereal fresh? So sorry you are having trouble!
I made these with the homemade marshmallow and they turned out tasting good, but the Rice Krispies were soggy and wouldn’t hold together well. I think the recipe has too much butter maybe?
Hey Rachel! What brand rice cereal did you use? The cereal shouldn’t be soggy at all. Was there anything else you did differently? I really don’t think it was the amount of butter as I never have any issues with soggy cereal. Sorry for any trouble! Please let me know if you have any other questions. Thank you! xTieghan